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Flower power kids win eyesore battle

Wednesday, 16 April 2008

A group of civic minded children who are members of a youth club in South West Dublin have created a wonderful garden recently as part of a community spirit awards project.
Kids from the Little Monsters Youth Club in Jobstown Tallaght developed the garden at the Community Development Programme (CDP) building in Dromcarra, Jobstown.
Thirteen children from the group aged from seven to eleven-year-olds turned up along with some parent volunteers and a big brother or two to do a couple of hours of hard graft.
The saying many hands make light work was certainly true on the day as everybody got stuck in and it wasn't long before a mound of earth was transformed into a wonderfully landscaped garden bed.

The site was previously an eyesore, with burnt out cars and litter being major problems but South Dublin County Council recently installed gates and railings to secure the premises. The management of the CDP then asked if the club would do some landscaping.
South Dublin County Council provided the tools and generously donated funds for plant supplies.
Two children accompanied a leader to Baldonnel Nurseries to select the plants which included conifers, shrubs and flowers. The idea was to use low maintenance planting so that the upkeep would only require watering and weeding.
The design was laid out and decided at the nursery with the help of manager Noel and quickly transferred to paper to aid the arrangement the following day.
The children learned how to handle the plants properly and how to use the tools safely. They were all very enthusiastic and worked like Trojans, digging, planting, watering and of course cleaning up afterwards. Grass seed was also scattered on the remainder of the garden to fill in bare patches.
The creative youngsters have also designed a leaflet containing information on how to keep the community clean with useful phone numbers for people such as the local litter warden. Over 4,000 of these leaflets were delivered to houses in Jobstown recently.
As part of their community spirit project they also did art workshops making 'litter-bug' puppets from rubbish which they intend to use in an animated short film on anti-littering.
In addition they made soil enricher from egg shells they collected which will also be used in the garden as well as donating some to local gardening club ‘Blooming Great’.
Afterwards some of the children spoke about their achievements and how they enjoyed the project.
Conor Loftus said: “The best bit was the digging, that was really fun,” and his colleague Lee Dowling remarked: “I liked planting the flowers, it made the garden really colourful.”
Lauren Woods commented on the industrious efforts of the group.
“It was amazing how quickly we got it done with every one working together,” she said.
Ann Fitzpatrick, project manager of the Community Development Programme was very impressed by the work.
“It's a fantastic achievement by all involved, especially the children,” she said. “I hope that their hard work will be respected enough by locals and that it will remain intact and not be targeted or stolen by vandals.
“We are getting a sign made with all the kids names on it which will be displayed to commemorate the project and give them a sense of ownership,” she added. “It's the least they deserve.”
Annette Woolley, youth leader with the Little Monsters, said plans were in the pipeline to develop the building’s back garden into a vegetable and herb plot for the whole community.
This would be done after the garden has been cleaned up and given a new lease of life by a giant mural that the group will do in the coming months with their big brother club, the MC Teens.
“It would be great if we could liase with other groups and green fingered locals in the area to tackle this major project,” Ms Woolley said. “It's all about community spirit and having pride in your surroundings.”
Local residents praised the children and handed out sweets to keep them going. One local man passing by said: “It's a big improvement, very colourful. I just hope the scumbags don't wreck it. It would be a pity.'

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